Waubonsie Valley stunned by Manley

On paper it didn't appear to be much of a contest.

Waubonsie Valley came into Sunday's Conference Challenge Classic at Loyola's Gentile Center riding a seven-game winning streak. Opposing them was a 9-14 Manley team that only suited up seven players.

Everything seemed in order when the Warriors opened the game on a 17-4 run. Although the Wildcats used a 15-6 run to cut Waubonsie Valley's lead to 2, the Warriors quickly answered with 13 straight points to take a 38-23 lead with 1:36 left in the first half.

However, something seemed amiss when Manley scored the final 6 points of the first half and opened the third quarter on a 15-6 run to tie the game at 44-44. After briefly trailing, Waubonsie Valley took a 53-50 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Warriors led 66-61 with two minutes left but could do nothing as the Wildcats scored 11 of the final 12 points to upset Waubonsie Valley 72-67 in boys basketball.

"We didn't come to play tonight," Warriors coach Steve Weemer said. "We played probably the worst game we have played all season. We were disinterested, we weren't a team, and we were in disarray tonight. I'm very disappointed in our effort and how we played defensively."

The loss was quite a shock for the 18-4 Warriors, who may have walked onto the court a little overconfident.

"Coach mentioned that," said Kevin VandenBerg (16 points, 4 assists, 2 steals). "I wouldn't like to think so, but maybe we came in thinking we could just walk in and win. That wasn't the case today."

Donovan Buford lit up Waubonsie Valley for 27 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Anthony Glenn added 17 for Manley, which shot 26 of 57 and had players constantly driving into the lane.

"We played horrible defense, and that's what we usually pride ourselves on," VandenBerg said. "We played bad.

"There's nothing else you can say. We played stupid. They came out on top and they played better than us."

Josh Daniels had 19 points and 2 assists, Justin Peaster had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and Jelani Johnson added 9 points for the Warriors.